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Publish date: October 7, 2010
Written by: Lorelei Limousin
News
The signatories include Christian Aid, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, RSPB, World Development Movement, and WWF.
The UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has recommended the complete decarbonisation of the power sector by 2030. Yet, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) has not proven sufficient to prevent new unabated fossil fuel power plants from being built in UK and redirect investments into low carbon solutions. A new Emissions Performance Standard, setting a mandatory ceiling on the amount of CO2 that can be emitted per unit of energy output, would deter unabated fossil investments.
As a result, the statement puts forward four main recommendations:
1- Introduce CO2 emission performance standards for all new and rehabilitated combustion plants, including gas, to ensure appropriate sizing of any CCS demonstrations operations. The report advocates a 300gCO2/kWh UK standard to create regulatory certainty for investors. Despite the planned consumer levy on electricity bills (Energy Act 2010), the limitation would foster confidence in CCS investments, as it guarantees that CO2 emissions will definitely be limited.
2- Harmonize CO2 performance standards for all combustion plants (both existing and new) to meet an EPS of less than 100gCO2/kWh in 2025, and of 70gCO2/kWh in 2030, in order to maximize the reduction in CO2 emissions and accelerate the investments needed for future CCS retrofits.
3- Maintain system wide security through an opt-out mechanism which would allow power plants reluctant to install CO2 capture technology to exceed the EPS in the 2020s and/or to have short-term derogations, on condition that the power sector carbon intensity is maintained within a limit of 70gCO2/kWh .
4- Compatibility of a plant-specific EPS with the EU ETS: an EPS would help to tight ETS caps and to reach long-term emissions targets.
“The statement is a very welcome specification of what an EPS should look like to ensure the decarbonisation of the power sector before 2030. We will do our utmost to make these arguments heard also elsewhere in Europe,” says Eivind Hoff from Bellona Europa.
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